They told Thornhill it would be a simple spy mission that he was more than eager to take on, but of course, it wasn't.
It didn't take long after meeting the contact for Thornhill to question if he or anyone else connected to him was going to be able to make it out of Amsterdam alive. Passing strangers on the streets became potential hitmen and dinner with criminals became safe heavens as Thornhill seeks to find answers from an old man named Golay.
1. Thomas Thornhill sat in the restroom stall of the Rosa Parks Transit Center in Detroit, Michigan, wiping blood and ash from his hands with a baby wipe. He took the last two wipes from the pouch and cleaned the blood off his wrists and the dirt off his dress shoes. He put the wipes in his suit pocket and opened his briefcase, moving the bagged Walther PPK/S pistol off a set of clothes.
The restroom door opened.
Thornhill froze and then quietly lifted his feet off the floor. He slowly pulled a knife out of his dinner jacket and held it ready. He heard the sound of urinating across from his stall, a flush, and then footsteps going out of the bathroom. Thornhill grimaced over the fact that he’d heard no water running in the sink; however, the other man’s lack of hygiene did not deter him from his mission.
He quickly pulled out the bag of clothes, which contained a dark-blue polo shirt and a pair of slim-fit khaki pants. A pair of Vans, also bagged, that matched his new outfit sat at the bottom of the briefcase with a pair of black dress shoes and a custom-tailored dinner suit.
As Thornhill changed out of his dirty suit and into his new outfit, he pondered how he had ended up in this predicament. Had it begun at birth? Was it because of the absence of a real home? The lack of close friends during middle school? High school crushes? Graduating early? Interning at the NSA? Sparring with the military police? His parents’ death? Saying yes to Crumwell? They had all played a part, but it was when he’d gotten off the plane in Amsterdam that it had all gone south.
How foolish he’d been to think it would be an easy mission.
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